


A Scientific Interest

by caprigender



Category: Carmilla - J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Dracula - Bram Stoker, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Genre: F/F, Femslash, first person POV, vampire ladies heck yes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-24 19:15:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3781273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caprigender/pseuds/caprigender
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura receives an invitation from an unlikely source.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Scientific Interest

“I’ve read your book, Ms. Fanu. Recently, in fact, though my sources tell me you first wrote it… quite some time ago” Her voice had an edge to it that said she knew everything and was simply biding her time until I admitted every fault. My blood ran cold.

When I had received Mrs. Harker’s letter, a charming account of acquaintances we shared and an invitation to her grand mansion in London, I had been surprised and flattered. There were few who knew of my existence in my late father’s drafty castle and fewer who called on me for company. I admit that a lady of grand society personally inviting me into her home was such a thrilling concept that I scarcely bothered to stop and wonder as to its validity. A more sensible woman of my condition would have thought “now, Laura, you cannot be sure that this isn’t some sort of trap laid for you by those such as the Baron. Proceed with caution or, even better, proceed not at all”

Instead I spent the weeks packing for my travels wondering what sort of a woman this Mrs Harker would turn out to be.

She had exceeded my every expectation.

The townhouse she had directed me to was grand, if a little dreary, and situated next to some dreadfully empty docks and warehouses. The result was unsettling, dark and misty. I had knocked on the door and was greeted by a young American fellow who talked as though we were old friends as he led me up to the sitting room where Mrs. Harker was waiting. She was dressed in a rather conservative fashion, something more befitting a governess than the head of this grand household, no matter how strange it and its other occupants may have been. Still, even in her suffragette’s getup, she radiated a calm elegance. She was simply captivating and I felt my heartbeat quicken as a result.  
She greeted me and invited me to sit. I apologized for my late arrival, she assured me it was nothing to worry about, that her household keeps irregular hours. We chatted about this and that, nothing of much consequence until the topic had come around to how she really knew of me.

The book.

I was still trying to gather myself from the shock of her comment when I heard the American boy speak up from a chair on the other side of the room, “How long ago are you talking Mina?” He cleared his throat at her cold glare. “Uh, Mrs. Harker”

“Well,” Her eyes turned back to me, “How long has it been, Miss Fanu? Your manuscript states you were about 27 when you recounted the tale and that was….”

I swallowed and allowed myself an icy grin, “Well, I’d say that was about three decades ago, Mrs. Harker. Can you believe there are those who say I don’t look a day over nineteen?” I laughed, letting the sound ring out in the silence. If she knew what I was, she must have a plan to kill me. If she had a plan to kill me, I didn’t have the luxury of time, but perhaps I could still convince and delay her long enough…

“I must say, though, the charm of a young girl pales next to that of a determined woman. Does Mr. Harker have any idea what a lucky man he is?” I tried my best to keep a steady voice, but my native german tongue influenced my words. I hoped Mrs. Harker would find it charming, there was little hope stopping my nervous accent.

“Not quite as lucky as you say, Miss Fanu,” she stated, “He died quite some time ago.” And though the subject was grave, I could have sworn I saw a glint of humor in her eyes.

“Hm, pity,” I replied, not even attempting to sound apologetic.

“Yes, well, he and I made some very interesting discoveries back when we worked together,” I raised an eyebrow, beckoning her to continue. “But, I’m sure that you already know by now, there is more than one way for a vampire to be born.” She shifted the collar of her shirt, pulling down her long red scarf to show a vicious scar that I recognized only too well.  
“oh, oh goodness, Mina, darling! I thought you were going to kill me!” I laughed again as a wave of relief rushed over me. I had seen the gruesome fate of my attacker (sire, friend, lover?) Carmilla and it was not one that I was looking forward to. There’s something about immortality makes one very keen to avoid being stabbed through the heart, beheaded, and burned.

The lovely brunette smiled at me, a small, sympathetic smile. “I believe in second chances. And I believe I could benefit from your company.”

“And I from yours,” I conceded, “you have no idea what it is like living in a nearly abandoned castle in the middle of the Austrian woods for years. The solitude takes its toll.” An understatement of such magnitude had never before then been made. “And, if you don’t mind, Mrs. Harker, as we are tied in such a way, I would consider it a great honor if you would call me Laura. It has been years since anyone has been in close enough confidence with me that they would use my first name, and I rather miss the sound.”

She nodded, stiffly, “I can grant you that, Laura. Now if you don’t mind, I have something rather delicate to ask of you.” She rose from her spot on the couch. “I wish to make a comparison of your vampiric scars.” I flushed bright red, a feat I was still astounded at, nearly forty years after my transformation. “Your Carmilla and my Dracula shared similarities in their methods, but there are also many pointed differences. What I require of you is a comparison to myself. Powers inherited, experiences while under the vampiric influence, and, what I ask now, a contrast of sustained wounds.”

“You realize that madame asks much of me”

“I assure you, my intentions are purely scientific”

“I assure you I would prefer if they weren’t,” and at this, I managed to bring a slight red coloring to her cheeks, though to her credit she maintained her composure.

There was a cough from the other side of the room. I glanced over and remembered the American boy before I fully recognized his confused and embarrassed face. “Oh, and I don’t mean to be rude, but I would prefer it if your American friend might leave us alone for this initial journey into vampiric discovery.”

“Sawyer?” Mina inquired, a single word, politely inviting the young man to leave, subtly threatening him should he choose not to.

“No worries, ma’am, you seem to have things all under control,” he addressed her, “I’ll be around if you need me.” He softly shut the parlor door.

“Now, if I may?” The dark haired woman approached me and began by unfastening the brooch that held the collar of my dress closed. Her delicate hands moved swiftly down the row of buttons before pausing a few inches above the swell of my chest.

I cleared my throat nervously, “I’m afraid it’s a bit further than that, Mina, darling.” She looked up at me, a little shocked.

“Forgive me, I did not realize- the accounts in your book, I thought perhaps…”

I undid the next few buttons, revealing more of my underclothes and the top edge of my corset. The fabric was pushed down lower until I had bared my scar to her. It was an ugly thing, situated on my left breast, just barely below where my corset rested. The puncture wounds were surrounded by blue and purple scarring that had never seemed to entirely disappear. My eyes lingered on Mina’s neck, still exposed. The puffy edges of her bite marks were still red and in some places it seemed that perhaps she was still bleeding, that she had never quite fully healed from her attacker’s assault.

I suppose, in a way, she had not truly recovered. I suppose that neither had I.

We stood there in silence for quite some time, Mina examining my chest in a detached, scientific manner. Every once in a while she would murmur something in Latin, medical jargon no doubt, something I had very little understanding of. My experiences had taught me that vampires were not beings that could be explained by man’s limited scientific knowledge. I found no reason to try and rationalize something that clearly could not be rationalized. However, if it amused Mina to attempt this, how could I have denied her the chance?

My weakness has always been pretty women. Truth be told, it is how I came to be in such an unfortunate condition. I had always feared Carmilla’s strange outbursts of love, professions of undying devotion to the perfection she saw in me. It had always struck me as bizarre, taboo, and yet not entirely objectionable, and this frightened me. I realize now that for her, these fits were merely a manifestation of bloodlust and obsessive jealousy, but what I felt for her when I was human? I’d had many decades to think on it. Years of self-loathing and torment had brought me to the conclusion that even before my vampiric urges, women had held a rather peculiar spot in my heart. And, furthermore, I had accepted this fact.

Mrs. Harker reached for a journal and pen sitting the table next to her chair. She scribbled down a few notes while I took the liberty of buttoning myself back up.

“Is that all, Mrs. Harker?” I asked.

“For tonight, Laura. Please, allow me to accompany you to your room.”

I was led up a flight of stairs and through hallways covered with strange pictures of people and machines I could not recognize. There were a surprising number of doorways that sounded as if their rooms were occupied and I wondered exactly how many residents there were in Mina’s household. As I made to question her on this account, however, we reached the room to which my luggage had been brought and I instead bid the lovely Mrs. Harker good night.

She lingered a moment in the doorway, “Laura,”

“Yes?”

Then with a nod towards my scar she asked “Does it ever still hurt you?”

I looked up, startled at the question, I cannot say why it struck me as unusual, but it did all the same. Our eyes met and I seemed to see a thousand different questions buried in that icy blue and I thought that perhaps Wilhelmina Harker was not as intimidating and mysterious as she seemed. Perhaps she was as confused by her abilities as I was, though, unlike me, she did not quite look the part of the terrified, helpless young woman on her own in the world.

“Yes,” I answered, “Sometimes it hurts me very much.”

For a moment I believed that she might say something more, but the door slid closed with a metallic click.

And she was gone.


End file.
